The UCLA Bruins men's basketball program, established in 1920, owns a record 11 Division I NCAA championships. UCLA teams coached by John Wooden won 10 national titles in 12 seasons from 1964 to 1975, including 7 straight from 1967 to 1973. UCLA went undefeated a record 4 times, in 1964, 1967, 1972, and 1973. Coach Jim Harrick led the team to another NCAA title in 1995. Former coach Ben Howland led UCLA to three consecutive Final Four appearances from 2006–2008.[1] On March 30, 2013, Steve Alford was named the school's 13th head men's basketball coach.[2]

In 1919, Fred Cozens became the first head coach of the UCLA basketball and football teams in 1919. Cozens remained UCLA's basketball coach through 1921 and guided them to a 20–4 record. Caddy Works was the head coach of the University of California, Los Angeles from 1921 to 1939, guiding them to a 173-159 record. Works was a lawyer by profession and coached the team only during the evenings. According to UCLA player and future Olympian Frank Lubin, Works was "more of an honorary coach" with little basketball knowledge. Wilbur Johns was the head coach of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) from 1939 to 1948, guiding them to a 93-120 record.

From 1948 to 1975, John Wooden, nicknamed the "Wizard of Westwood," served as head coach at UCLA. He won ten NCAA national championships in a 12-year period, seven of those in a row, easily breaking the previous record of only two in a row.[6][7] Within this period, his teams won a record 88 consecutive games. He was named national coach of the year six times.

Wooden had immediate success, fashioning the mark of the rarest of coaches, an "instant turnaround" for an undistinguished, faltering program. Prior to his arrival, UCLA had only had two conference championship seasons in the previous 18 years. In his first season, he took a UCLA team that had a 12–13 record the previous year and transformed it into a Pacific Coast Conference (PCC) Southern Division champion with a 22–7 record,[7] the most wins in a season for UCLA since it started playing basketball in 1919.[8] He surpassed that number the next season with 24–7 and a second division title and overall conference title in 1950, and would add two more in his first four years. Up to that time, UCLA had collected a total of two division titles since the PCC began divisional play, and hadn't won a conference title of any sort since winning the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference in 1927.

By the 1955-56 season, Wooden had established a sustained success at UCLA. That year, he guided the team to its first undefeated PCC conference title, and a 17-game winning streak that came to an end only at the hands of Bill Russell's University of San Francisco team in the 1956 NCAA Tournament. However, UCLA was unable to advance from this level over the immediately ensuing seasons, finding itself unable to return to the NCAA Tournament as the Pete Newell-coached teams at the University of California, Berkeley took control of the conference at the end of the decade. Also hampering the fortunes of Wooden's team during that time period was a probation imposed on all UCLA sports in the aftermath of a scandal involving illegal payments made to players on the school's football team, along with USC, Cal and Stanford, resulting in the dismantling of the PCC conference.[9]

By 1962, with the probation no longer in place, Wooden had righted the basketball program's ship and returned his team to the top of the conference. This time, however, they would take the next step, and in so doing, unleash a run of dominance unparalleled in the history of college basketball. A narrow loss, due largely to a controversial foul call, in the semifinal of the 1962 NCAA Tournament convinced Wooden that his Bruins were ready to contend for national championships.[9] Two seasons later, the final piece of the puzzle fell into place when assistant coach Jerry Norman persuaded Wooden that the team's small-sized players and fast-paced offense would be complemented by the adoption of a zone press defense.[9] The result was a dramatic increase in scoring, giving UCLA a powerhouse team that went undefeated on its way to the school's first basketball national championship.

Wooden's team repeated as national champions the following season before the 1966 squad fell briefly, finishing second in the conference to Oregon State. UCLA was ineligible to play in the NCAA tournament that year, because in those days only conference champions went to the tournament. However, the Bruins' 1967 incarnation returned with a vengeance, reclaiming not only the conference title, but the national crown with an undefeated season, and then retaining it every season but one until Wooden's retirement in 1975.

In January 1968, UCLA took its 47-game winning streak to the Astrodome in Houston, where Lew Alcindor squared off against Elvin Hayes in the Game of the Century before a national television audience. Houston upset UCLA 71-69 as Hayes scored 39 points. In a post-game interview, Wooden said, "We have to start over." Start over they did, as UCLA went undefeated the rest of year and trashed Houston 101-69 in the semi-final rematch of the NCAA tournament en route to the national championship.

The resurgence of the Bruins under Wooden made it obvious that they needed a new home. Since 1932, the Bruins had played at the Men's Gym. It normally seated 2,400, but had been limited to 1,500 since 1955 by order of the city fire marshal. This forced the Bruins to move games to Pan Pacific Auditorium, the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena and other venues around Los Angeles when they were expected to attract larger crowds—something that happened fairly often after the Bruins' first national title. At Wooden's urging, a much larger on-campus facility, Pauley Pavilion, was built in time for the 1965-66 season.

Wooden coached what would prove to be his final game in Pauley Pavilion on March 1, 1975, in a 93–59 victory over Stanford. Four weeks later, following a 75–74 overtime victory over Louisville in the 1975 NCAA Tournament semifinal game, Wooden announced that he would retire at age 64 immediately after the championship game.[10] His legendary coaching career concluded triumphantly, as his team responded with a win over Kentucky to claim Wooden's first career coaching victory over the Wildcats and his unprecedented 10th national championship. During his tenure with the Bruins, Wooden became known as the "Wizard of Westwood" (although he personally disdained the nickname) and gained lasting fame with UCLA by winning 620 games in 27 seasons and 10 NCAA titles during his last 12 seasons, including seven in a row from 1967 to 1973.[6] His UCLA teams also had a record winning streak of 88 games[11][12] and four perfect 30–0 seasons.[6] They also won 38 straight games in NCAA Tournaments[6] and 98 straight home game wins at Pauley Pavilion. Wooden was named NCAA College Basketball's "Coach of the Year" in 1964, 1967, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972 and 1973. In 1967, he was named the Henry Iba Award USBWA College Basketball Coach of the Year. In 1972, he shared Sports Illustrated magazine's "Sportsman of the Year" award with Billie Jean King. He was named to the Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach in 1973,[13] becoming the first to be honored as both a player and a coach.[7]

From 1975 to 1977, Gene Bartow served as the head coach of UCLA. He guided them to a 52–9 record, including a berth in the 1976 Final Four. He coached the 1977 College Player of the Year, Marques Johnson.

Gary Cunningham became the head coach at UCLA in 1977. He coached two seasons, winning the Pacific-8 and Pacific-10 conference championships and leading UCLA to a #2 ranking in the final polls both seasons.

Larry Brown then moved on to coach for UCLA from 1979–1981, leading his freshman-dominated 1979–80 team to the NCAA title game before falling to Louisville, 59–54. However, that appearance was later vacated by the NCAA after two players were found to be ineligible—one of the few times a Final Four squad has had its record vacated.

Larry Farmer was the head coach of UCLA from 1981 to 1984, guiding them to a 61–23 (.726) record. He had recruited Earvin "Magic" Johnson to come play at UCLA, but then told Johnson to hold off on a visit as he was more interested in Albert King.[14] Neither played for UCLA.

In 1984, Walt Hazzard was UCLA's basketball coach, twenty-years after winning the national championship as a player. He coached for four seasons, winning 77 out of 125 games. The 1984-1985 UCLA Bruin basketball team won the NIT championship. The 1986-1987 UCLA Bruin basketball team won both the Pac-10 regular season championship as well as the inaugural Pacific-10 Conference Men's Basketball Tournament.

In 1988, Jim Harrick returned to UCLA (he had spent two years as an assistant coach from 1978 to 1979) to assume head coaching duties after the firing of Walt Hazzard. During the recruiting period before his first season, he recruited Don MacLean which was the most significant recruit to commit to UCLA in several years and helped start a revival of the basketball program. During the 1994–1995 season, he led UCLA to a 31-2 record (a loss to California was subsequently forfeited to the Bruins) and the school's eleventh national championship, its first since the 1974–75 season. The 31 wins would stand as a school record until the 2005-06 season. In 1996, Harrick's Bruins were upset in the first round by Princeton. Shortly before the 1996 season, UCLA fired Jim Harrick for lying about who attended a recruiting dinner.

On the departure of assistants Mark Gottfried and Lorenzo Romar for head coaching jobs shortly after the 1995 NCAA Championship season, Lavin, as the assistant with the longest tenure at UCLA, was selected as interim head coach.

Later that season on February 11, 1997, with the Bruins tied for first place in the Pac-10 with an 8–3 record, UCLA removed the "interim" tag from Lavin's title and formally named him as its 11th head coach. The Bruins then won their next 11 games en route to the Pac-10title, before being eliminated by the Minnesota Gophers in the NCAA Midwest Regional Final. In seven seasons as head coach Lavin's record was 12–4 in games involving overtime. Additionally Lavin's Bruins had a 10–4 record against the rival USC Trojans. During the period 1997–2002, Lavin's Bruins compiled nine consecutive overtime victories. These included victories over Arizona, Cincinnati (2002 NCAA second round double overtime victory over No. 1 West Region seed), Kentucky, and Stanford (then ranked No 1).

At UCLA from 1996 to 2003, Lavin compiled a record of 145–78. As both an assistant and head coach, Lavin participated in 13 consecutive NCAA tournament appearances (1990–2002), while working at Purdue and UCLA. During Lavin's tenure as a head coach, he was one of only two coaches in the country to lead his team to five NCAA "Sweet 16s" in six years (1997, 1998, 2000-2002), the other coach being Duke'sMike Krzyzewski. Lavin guided UCLA to six consecutive seasons of 20 or more wins, as well as six consecutive NCAA tournament appearances.[15]

During Lavin's tenure as head coach, the Bruins qualified for six consecutive NCAA Tournaments (1997–2002). Lavin's record in the first and second rounds of the NCAA tournament is 10–1. His winning percentage (90.9%) in the first two rounds is second only to Dean Smith in NCAA Tournament history. However, Lavin also coached the Bruins to their only loss in an NCAA tournament game played in the State of California (a 2002 loss to Missouri in San Jose).

In seven seasons as head coach Lavin's record was 12–4 in games involving overtime. The Bruins defeated the No. 1 team in the country in four consecutive collegiate seasons: Stanford in 2000 and 2001, Kansas in 2002 and Arizona in 2003.

In March 2003, following UCLA's first losing season (10–19) in 52 years, Lavin was fired.

Despite some success under the watch of Steve Lavin, the program wanted to regain its position in the college basketball upper echelon. Even the success in the NCAA tournament belied the fact that UCLA had earned no better than a number 4 seed with the exception of the 1997 season. The 2002-03 season turned out to be the back-breaker for Lavin as the Bruins stumbled to a 10–19 record and a 6–12 record in the conference. It was the first losing season for UCLA in over five decades. Lavin was dismissed following the season.

UCLA looked to find a coach that could move the Bruins back to the elite ranks of the Pac-10 and the country. Howland's success at the University of Pittsburgh and his southern California roots made him an attractive candidate. In 2003, he accepted the only job he said he would ever contemplate leaving Pitt for: the head coaching duties at UCLA.[16] UCLA athletic director Dan Guerrero, who declined to hire Howland at UC Irvine in 1997, felt that Howland's Big East style of basketball, characterized by a slow down offense and lock-down man on man defense, would vault the program to the top of the Pac-10. However, Howland came into a program at the bottom of the Pac-10 with a roster not suited to his style. In his first season the club finished 11-17 and 7-11 in the conference. Howland remedied this disappointment in his recruiting efforts. Howland produced a top tier recruiting class from athletes in southern California that fit his Big East style. Behind Lavin hold-over Dijon Thompson and Howland recruits Jordan Farmar and Arron Afflalo, UCLA produced a winning season for the first time in three years and returned to the tournament. Despite losing in the first round, the foundation had been set for future success.

Starting the 2005-06 season with the majority of the roster made over in Howland's image and with the Lavin hold-overs buying into the system (e.g., Ryan Hollins and Cedric Bozeman) the Bruins produced an excellent campaign. They finished the regular season 24–6, winning the Pac-10 Conference title. They then roared through the Pac-10 tournament, winning each game by double digits en route to only the second Pac-10 tournament championship in school history. The momentum continued into the NCAA tournament as the second-seeded Bruins staged a memorable late-game comeback to defeat Gonzaga in the Sweet Sixteen. They then upset top-seeded Memphis to reach the school's first Final Four in 11 years. The run ended against Florida in the championship game whose imposing front-line proved to be a matchup problem for the Bruins.

Howland continued his success at UCLA the following year. The Bruins finished undefeated at home for the first time in 22 years, winning the Pac-10 conference title. However they lost in their first Pac-10 tournament game and were seeded second in the NCAA Tournament West Region. UCLA turned a tight opening into a blowout over Howland's alma mater Weber State in the first round. After a close second-round win over Indiana, Howland led the Bruins to a win over his former team, Pitt, coached by his former assistant, Jamie Dixon, in the Sweet Sixteen. The Bruins then again upset the top seed in the West Region, Kansas, in a classic matchup of two storied basketball programs and reached the second of UCLA's first consecutive Final Fours since the John Wooden era, only to lose again to Florida in the national semifinal.

At the start of the 2007-08 season, expectations for UCLA were the highest ever with the arrival of Kevin Love, one of the best low-post prospects in the high school class of 2007 [1]. Combined with the emergence of Russell Westbrook and Darren Collison in the back-court, the Bruins won their 3rd consecutive Pac-10 conference title, and their second Pac-10 tournament title in three years. They received their first #1 seed in the NCAA tournament since 1995, and once again reached the Final Four, where they faced another top seed, the Memphis Tigers. Memphis got the better of the Bruins, who returned to Westwood without a championship once again.

However, the Bruins program under Howland began to struggle in subsequent seasons. After 2008, UCLA did not advance past the first weekend of the NCAA tourney, and did not qualify for the tournament in 2010 and 2012.[17] With a 77-73 victory over Penn on December 10, 2011; Howland passed Jim Harrick for second on UCLA's all-time wins list behind John Wooden. Nonetheless, questions about how Howland was running the program began to come into focus. In February 2012, a Sports Illustrated article portrayed UCLA player Reeves Nelson as a bully on and off the court, who at times intentionally tried to injure his teammates. According to the article, Howland looked the other way and did not discipline Nelson for over two years.[18][19] From 2008—the Bruins last Final Four appearance—through 2012, at least 11 players left the UCLA program.[20]

Although the 2012-2013 Bruins won the Pac-12 regular season championship, they quickly bowed out in the first round of the NCAA tournament. On March 25, 2013, three days after being eliminated by 11th seed Minnesota, UCLA fired Howland.[21][22]

On March 30, 2013, Alford signed a seven-year, $18.2-million contract to become the head coach of UCLA, replacing the fired Ben Howland.[23] That comes out to $2.6 million a year. It is interesting to compare Alford's contract with John Wooden's first contract at UCLA in 1948, where he signed a three-year contract for $6,000 in the first year. In his first year as head coach Alford led UCLA to a Pac-12 tournament championship, a feat not accomplished since 2008.

The men's basketball team played in the 2000 seat Men's Gym from 1932 to 1965. They played at other venues around Los Angeles including the Pan-Pacific Auditorium and Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena. In 1965, Pauley Pavilion was built on campus and has been the home of Bruin Basketball since that time. During the 2011-12 season, Pauley Pavilion underwent a complete renovation, both inside and out, earning it the nickname of "New Pauley." A new attendance record was set when 13,727 fans watched the Bruins defeating the Arizona Wildcats 74–69 on March 2, 2013.

UCLA has 31 conference championships and USC has seven. When John Wooden became the coach, UCLA turned into a national basketball powerhouse. UCLA has won 11 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournaments and has dominated the conference, winning two games for every one that USC won. As of the 2013–2014 season, UCLA has won or shared the conference title 31 times, and USC has won or shared the title 7 times.[28]

UCLA had a basketball rivalry with Notre Dame that started when Digger Phelps was the Notre Dame coach and John Wooden was the UCLA coach. UCLA and Notre Dame played a home-and-home meeting for several seasons, which is otherwise uncommon outside conference play. This rivalry existed from the desire of the Notre Dame athletic department to schedule the top schools for intersectional competition. UCLA and Notre Dame played 42 times between 1966 and 1995, and the height of the rivalry was when Notre Dame ended UCLA's consecutive-game winning streak at 88 on January 19, 1974. UCLA also broke a 60-game Notre Dame winning streak in South Bend. Previous UCLA head coach Ben Howland scheduled Notre Dame four times: in 2004, 2005, 2008, and 2009.[29] After UCLA's victory on February 7, 2009, UCLA leads the all-time series 28-19.[30]

Since the mid-1980s, UCLA has also had a basketball rivalry with Arizona under coach Lute Olson, as the two schools competed for the Pac-10 Championship every year. Since 1985 the two teams have combined to win 21 out of the 29 conference titles. The UCLA-Arizona basketball rivalry still is seen as the match up of the two premier teams in the conference. Also, the performance of the two schools influences the national opinion of the conference.[31]

^basketball-reference.com counts 79 players, but is missing Greg Foster, Corey Gaines, Brett Vroman. Foster, Gaines, and Vroman all transferred from UCLA to another school.[36][37][38][39] The UCLA Media Guide did not count Foster, Gaines, and John Vallely. The Media Guide listed Ray Young, but he is not included here since he did not play a game in the NBA.

^Foster, Chris - UCLA, Arizona need to raise Pac-12 level. Los Angeles Times, March 2, 2013. Quote: California Coach Mike Montgomery, "...If those two are not good, the conference is not perceived as being good. People don't give credit to the schools across the board in the league."